Food Industries Address Congress About Corn Prices
The Dairy and Poultry subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee warned yesterday that consumer food prices will rise if the burden of expensive corn is not ameliorated.
J. Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute, said that Congress should take practical actions to moderate the impact that the nation’s renewable energy policy is having on animal feed costs and the cost of food sold to consumers, and Tyson Foods’ Matthew Herman spoke on behalf of the National Chicken Council, telling the subcommittee that the United States could see a corn shortage as ethanol demand outstrips supply.
In an effort to alleviate price pressure on corn producers, the two groups groups suggested that Congress 1) increase federal investment in dried distiller grain research that could help producers adjust feeding regimens to include distiller grains, 2) allow the U.S. ethanol tariff to expire as scheduled on Dec. 31, 2008 so that Americans have greater access to imported ethanol, and finally, 3) promote alternative energy sourced from cellulosic materials, methane, or renewable diesel.
Herman and the National Chicken Council also asked Congress to 1) permit non-environmentally sensitive cropland to be released from USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program without penalty or loss of program benefits, and 2) allow new cropland into the program if it is designated for bio-energy production. AMI’s Boyle suggested a working lands conservation program to encourage production of environmentally friendly feedstuffs.